The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-02-18
STARTED HIS ENGINE WHILE ASLEEP.
A Curious Mishapat Scranton Recalling Ter
rible Railroad Catastrophe.

SCRANTON, Feb. 17-Late Saturday night
Dennis Mack, engineer on q switch engine in the
yards Of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Com
pany in this city, ran his engine into the engine
mousse AS he was to 60 on duty again at
o'clock Sunday morning he lay down in the cab
of his engine to sleep until that time. just
before l o'clock workmen in the yard were
startled by great crash at the engine-house,
which is a frame building. Looking in the
direction of the house they saw one side of 1t
give way and Mack's engine come tearing out of
the breach. The engine ran a short distance
over the ground and then toppled over down an
embankment twenty feet high. It rolled over
and over in the descent and was badly wrecked.
The workmen knew that Mack was on the en-
CINE and expected to find him crushed to death
In the debris. They found him fast in the wreck,
and although he was held so that it took them
some time to extricate him. he was found to have
received but few slight injuries. Mack could
not explain what caused the engine to start, but
1t Is supposed that he started up in his sleep and
pulled the throttle OPEN
This singular occurrence recalls the fact that
one OF the most terrible railroad disasters that
ever occurred in this country was caused by an
engineer starting his engine while he was
asleep 1t was in July 1869, the Erie rail-
way, at Mast Hope station, on the Delaware di-
vision. The track was then single one on that
part of the road. Conductor Jud Brown had
orders to lie on the switch at Mast Hope until
fast express train No. 3, west bound, passed
James Griffin was the engineer of the freight
train. AS the express train approached the sta
ton at midnight running thirty FIVE miles an
hour, conductor Brown was Mortified to see his
! train pulling out on the maiE track. Grifin's
engine reached the main track directly in front
of the express, and terrific collision was the
| result. The cars on the express train were piled
on top of one another and caught fire. Many
passengers were killed outright. dozen others
were held in the wreck and burned alive. The
depot caught FIRE and was destroyed.
Griffin discovered the situation in time
to jump from his engine He fed, but
afterward surrendered himself and was lodged in
the Pike county Jail. He was tried for man
slaughter in September, 1869. He was defended
by the late Chief justice George W. Woodward
1t was proved on the trial that he had been on
duty twenty four hours without Sleep and the
point made by the defense was that, while wait
ING on the switch, he was overcome by the strain
| and fell asleep. He was partially awakened by
| the approaching train, and pulled open the
throttle of his engine before he knew what he
was doing. A sympathetic jury acquitted him,
| against the charge Of Judge Barrett to convict,
and were publicly censured by the court The
disaster made the ZANE of Mast Hope so notori-
| GUS all over the country that the railroad COM
pany changed the name of the station to Pine
Grove, which it retained until few weeks ago,
| when it was changed back to Mast Hope The
| remains of several of the victims of the catas.
| trophe were never identified. The disaster cost
the company 100000.